One moment, the World War II hospital ship Benevolence is patrolling the South Pacific on a mission of mercy—to save wounded American soldiers. The next, Benevolence is split in two by a torpedo, killing almost everyone on board. A small band of survivors makes it to the deserted shore of a nearby island.

In 1779, as the major fighting of the Revolutionary War moves to the South, a British force sails to the New England coast. A mortifying defeat leads to stunning repercussions for a young Scottish lieutenant named John Moore and a Boston patriot named Paul Revere. 

Madeline Dare would be the first to tell you her money is so old there's none left. A former socialite from an aristocratic family in decline, Maddie is a tough-talking, would-be journalist exiled to the rust belt of upstate New York. Her prospects for changing her dreary lifestyle seem dim--until a set of dog tags found at a decades-old murder site is linked to her family.